The Rensselaer Innovation Hub | RPiHUB

Rensselaer Innovation Hub (RPiHUB) is a program of Real Estate and Business Development, a newly created Rensselaer portfolio organized to consolidate the complementary purposes of the Rensselaer Technology Park and the Emerging Ventures Ecosystem (EVE 2.0), the Institute’s distributed business incubation program. Taken together, both initiatives bookend the continuum of technology-driven economic-development at Rensselaer. Each program contributes to explicit as well as implied pedagogical, economic and social objectives of the newly revised Rensselaer Plan with a specific emphasis on the Plan’s call for strategic focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Innovative Education and enhancements to the Research Enterprise. As home of the oldest University Incubator programs and Research & Technology Parks in the Country, Rensselaer is uniquely positioned to leverage the legacy of these programs in its evolution and growth as a world-class technological research institution.

The newly organized portfolio provides students, faculty and researchers with unique opportunities to “apply science to the common purposes of life” as entrepreneurs and business owners.

The Tech Park is a mature, 1,250 acre, Rensselaer-owned commercial real-estate development that serves as a destination for growing and mature companies aligned with Rensselaer’s Signature (Research) Thrusts. On the other end of the technology-driven economic development spectrum, the Emerging Ventures Ecosystem (EVE) was created to serve primarily as a real-world venue for facilitating the transformation of Rensselaer research-inspired discoveries and inventions into successful high-tech startups. Collectively, the Tech Park and EVE provide diverse and unique opportunities for students, faculty and researchers to “apply science to the common purposes of life” in messy, put practical real-world settings. In some ways, engagements with Tech Park tenants and EVE clients can be considered a direct extension of the business, innovation and entrepreneurship curricula at Rensselaer effectively extending laboratory type learning activities into “the real world.”

The Portfolio serves as the effective bridge between academia and industry, which informs the Institute’s Signature Thrusts and inspires enhanced educational opportunities.

As an outlet for the practical application of discoveries and inventions, the new portfolio also supports the expansion of the Research Enterprise at Rensselaer. The real-world experience of putting discoveries and inventions from research into practice provides students, faculty and researchers with invaluable feedback on the quality and value of their work as practical and beneficial to improving the social and economic quality of life. Industry and the marketplace also provide feedback to validate or refine the research thrusts at Rensselaer. Serving as the effective bridge between academia and industry, both programs can drive increasing engagements with businesses leading to sponsored research opportunities, internships, permanent employment, special projects and generous philanthropic commitments to Institute Advancement from successful and generous Alumni entrepreneurs and corporate donors.

The RPiHUB Team with the Rensselaer Real Estate and Business Development Portfolio is located at 100 Defreest Drive in the Rensselaer Technology Park, in the Town of North Greenbush, Troy, New York. The “Tech Park Office” is the physical nerve center of the RPiHUB. It is a 320 year old farmhouse, rich with local history and a charming mystique that consistently captivates visitors and daily reminds the Team to always strive to maintain the balance between high-tech and high-touch.

“Innovation is the engine that drives the change that moves the world forward, forever fueling our desire to continually improve the quality of life for ourselves, our families, our community and future generations.”